Hélène

élène is a true leader, inspiring others - especially women - to speak out and become involved. Like many other low-income women, Hélène faces dual pressures of poverty and sexual harassment. Despite this, she has always stood up for her rights, encouraging other women to do so. She refused to keep her job if it meant compromising herself, so she accepted being fired. Hélène spontaneously organized a public health training program for her neighborhood. She got a job at the CEP - the national elections office - during the faltering election season. Hélène is an inspiring, outspoken leader who led a campaign to enforce the law that employers pay for workers' social security. The campaign included a journal denouncing the situation. This raised the issue to a national level, forcing compliance in all of the factories in the export-processing zone. Just this year, after a friend almost died after her husband beat her, Hélène organized a campaign against violence against women, and started a new grassroots organization, Women in Action. Even more than the others, Hélène reminds us that through collective action, change is possible, even in a place like Haiti.